Tomisaku Kawasaki

was a Japanese pediatrician who first described the condition now known as Kawasaki disease in the 1960s. Alongside rheumatic heart disease, Kawasaki disease is considered to be the leading cause of acquired heart disease in children worldwide.

Career Kawasaki conducted his medical internship year in Chiba and decided to specialize in pediatrics, due to his fondness for children. Medical residency in post-war Japan was unpaid and as his family suffered financial problems, his advisor recommended he take up a paid position at the Japan Red Cross Medical Center in Hiroo, Tokyo. He would later practice as a pediatrician there for over 40 years. In 1962, he saw a second patient with the same constellation of symptoms. After he had collected a series of seven cases, he presented them at a meeting of the Japanese Pediatric Association. Reviewers rejected his submission for publication because they did not believe it was a new disease entity. Opposition from several academics over the alleged discovery of the new disease lasted several years. After he had collected a total of 50 cases, his 44-page paper was published in the Japanese Journal of Allergy in 1967. The paper included comprehensive hand-drawn diagrams of each patient's rashes and has been described as "one of the most beautiful examples of descriptive clinical writing". Other colleagues across the country soon reported similar cases.

In 1970, the Ministry of Health and Welfare established a research committee on MCLS headed by Dr. Fumio Kosaki. This committee conducted a nationwide study on the disease, confirming it was a new disease which specifically affected arteries across the body. He has been called "part Sherlock Holmes and part Charles Dickens for his sense of mystery and his vivid descriptions".

Personal life and death Kawasaki was married to fellow pediatrician Reiko Kawasaki who died in 2019. He died on 5 June 2020 of natural causes at the age of 95 years old.

Awards Bering Kitasato Award, 1986 Takeda Medical Award, 1987 Tokyo Cultural Award, 1996 Japan Pediatric Society Prize, 2006 At some time prior to 2007, he had a personal audience with the Emperor and Empress of Japan at the Imperial Palace. Honored by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government

Selected publications

Kawasaki T. (1967) Acute febrile mucocutaneous syndrome with lymphoid involvement with specific desquamation of the fingers and toes in children. Arerugi. 16 (3):178-222 (in Japanese).